By: James Southworth
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Let's get one thing out of the way, since so many people are gonna have a strong reaction to this review one way or another: I think that the modern-day Star Wars fan base is a toxic minefield. Expressing your opinion about the new Star Wars films one way or the other is going to get you lambasted with hate. If you praise episode 7 or 8, then you might as well be a heathen who doesn't understand what the Star Wars universe is, and you should feel bad. However, if you critique them, then you're not a "real" Star Wars fan, and you should feel bad. There's seemingly no balance to be found. In this review, I will try my hardest to find a semblance of balance. In fact, my review will probably look very balanced between positives and negatives. I am cut right down the middle in how I feel about this film.
It is nearly impossible for me to talk about this movie without going into spoilers. So, you have been warned. Do NOT read this review any further if you haven't seen the movie, unless you're the type of person that doesn't care about spoilers. "The Last Jedi" picks up literally immediately from where episode seven left off, with Rey extending out Luke's lightsaber towards him. It's an interesting idea to have a Star Wars movie do this, meaning that these two movies alone are only taking place over a matter of days. Let's start with the positives of this film, though, because I think there are many of them. Like most any Star Wars film, this one is visually gorgeous, and I think that comes mainly from the unique directorial vision of Rian Johnson. He really knows how to make most every shot of this film pop off the screen. There are many different locations, and most of them are really cool to look at. The island Luke lives on has some of the most impressive shots of the whole movie, with there being a lot of sweeping shots of it. The island definitely feels like it has a reverent personality of its own. I also love the planet where the climax of the film takes place, as we have these dark red colors starkly contrasting with bright whites. It makes the big moment of the film that much more interesting to look at. The action sequences also all look rather incredible, although I'd have to say I like the beginning sequence better than the ending one. There's all sorts of cool creatures in this film that are visual treats as well. The real highlight is clearly the Porgs, who aren't overused and offer some of the best and cutest laughs of this movie.
I also felt that there were a lot of incredible performances in this movie. I know that several people have problems with Daisy Ridley's portrayal of Rey, but I liked her in episode seven, and I like her just as much now. She's just as good of a protagonist as Luke Skywalker. She's certainly better than Anakin in the prequels. I like seeing the journey she goes on in this movie. Ridley really brings a lot to her character, despite the director having some questionable development in her story. John Boyega as Finn remains to be my favorite of all the new Star Wars characters. Even though he has one of the weaker story lines to work with in this film, he still is always passionately portraying his character. In every scene, Boyega keeps Finn consistently charismatic and heroic. He offers the easiest character to attach to out of all the new ones, and I hope they give him more to do in episode 9. The real standout performance of this movie, though, is Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker. He has some tough material to work with, and he really knocks it out of the park. Anytime Hamill was on screen, I became significantly more invested in what was going on. Despite any problems I have with how Johnson changed the character of Luke, I still think Hamill was totally invested in this role in every single second, and he really lifted this film. I was not the biggest fan of Adam Driver as Kylo Ren in episode 7, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him become one of my favorite parts of "The Last Jedi". The story line he gets is easily the best and most consistently done in the film. If you trace the film from beginning to end, you can see how Kylo interestingly transforms from apprehensive apprentice to vengeful Supreme Leader. Driver's scenes with Ridley were among the best in the film, offering both actors chances to have interesting conversations about the conflict they see in one another. Carrie Fisher does great work as Leia, and her performance in this movie is all the more bittersweet knowing she won't be in the next one. Of course regulars such as C-3PO, R2D2, and Chewbacca were delightful to see as well. The Yoda cameo is also a pleasant surprise, and it doesn't feel like overdone fan service. The conversation between Luke and Yoda about the old ways of the Jedi is very compelling. I also enjoyed Laura Dern and Benecio Del Toro as Holdo and DJ, even though their characters weren't that important.
Now, so far, I've been very positive about this movie. As you can tell, there's a lot I like about it. The moments with Luke, Rey, and Kylo were all very interesting, and this movie is visually amazing from beginning to end. But, what really can make this movie suffer is its storytelling. I like films that take risks. I'm the type of person that wants to give movies that are trying something new the benefit of the doubt. When I heard that this Star Wars film would be taking risks, I was all for it. But, the risks this movie does take are usually questionable at best, and infuriating at worst. One of the biggest issues in this film was its introduction of a new Force power. Just as a precursor, I do not expect a Star Wars movie to be the most logical thing in the world. But, you should still be able to understand its rules. We have seen in all other Star Wars movies exactly what the Force can do. It rules are overall simplistic: either the force can hurt someone else (force push, electricity, choke), or it can be passive power which benefits someone but doesn't have to hurt another (mind control, lifting an object). There is a new force power introduced in this movie. I am in no way against seeing new elements of the Force introduced. But this one was just not established well. We see it first through Rey and Kylo's conversations. Apparently, through their mind they can talk with one another, and see one another too, but not each other's surroundings. They can touch each other, even if they're not really there. They can gain parts of each others' environment (for example Kylo gets water on him from the island). That seemed like way too many rules to me already. The rules of this power get thrown into further confusion in the climax where Luke goes to fight Kylo. We find in a twist of events that Luke is actually projecting himself with that new force power to fight Kylo. Kylo can't touch him with his lightsaber, and guns couldn't harm Luke either. This reveal makes the force power even more confusing. So, when Luke uses this power he can touch Leia (and she can touch him), but he can just choose for Kylo's lightsaber not to harm him? Or is it that this force power somehow already has the condition to where you someone can't hurt you when you're using it? I still don't know the answer to these questions. Luke dies after using this power. We've never seen a Jedi or Sith die from using the force. Why would an experienced Jedi Master die from it? We find out that Snoke was the one who was actually making Rey and Kylo see/talk to one another, and he doesn't die from using this power, so why does Luke? There's way too many questions, making this power's introduction have a weak payoff.
Rian Johnson also takes a lot of different narrative risks with his characters. These risks come across in a more negative light. For instance, I really didn't like what was done with Poe. There's no denying we've seen cocky characters in the Star Wars universe before, Han Solo being the first that comes to mind. But Poe's character is on a whole new level. His cockiness actually costs people's lives several times in the film. It made him come across as unlikable and frustrating. I suppose he had some growth at the very end of the movie, but it wasn't clear whether it was significant. I also didn't like that Snoke ended up as a plot device. We learn nothing about who he actually is, how he came to power, nothing. In this film, he is just meant to be someone for Kylo to kill so he can become supreme leader. I already was unsure of Snoke in the previous movie, and this made me hate his inclusion. The reveal of Rey's parents is also very underwhelming. It would've been too obvious for her to be a Skywalker, but her parents being nobodies seemed like a dumb choice to me. You could argue that Anakin was also born to nobodies, but he was built up to seemingly have had no father, making his birth more mysterious. There's nothing interesting about Rey's birth. I get where Johnson was going thematically with this, but I don't think it was presented as well in the film as it could've been. My biggest gripe is what Johnson does with Luke's character. I was actually really liking what he was doing with Luke, until the end. This beloved character is turned into nothing less than a coward, not going out to face Kylo himself but instead doing it from the comfort of his island. Even though I understand that Luke may have changed in his isolation, this choice took away anything that was distinctive about his character. Luke has always been the character to face his opposition head on, even at his lowest point. Some people seem to think what Johnson did is a bold risk, but I don't. It make's Luke's death far less impactful, and ultimately left the movie out on a sour note. Some miscellaneous problems with this film included the mainly unnecessary Finn and Rose side plot, a still overdone performance by Domnhall Glesson as Hux, and the cringe worthy scene of Leia using the force.
I've never felt so inconclusive about a Star Wars movie before. This is the only Star Wars movie where I really feel completely middle-of-the-road about it. I can easily give an opinion about any other Star Wars movie. "The Empire Strikes Back"? Easily one of my favorite movies of all time. "Attack of the Clones"? A movie which has way too many moments of cringe inducing dialogue and bad acting to make the good scenes worth it. With "The Last Jedi", I can't lean definitively either way. There are so many things I love about this movie. The scenes between Rey and Kylo are some of the most compelling Star Wars moments I've ever seen. Mark Hamill's impressive performance is a huge plus. However, when I think of this movie I also thing of the bad aspects: the horrible establishment of the new force power, or the underwhelming character arcs created for Luke and Snoke. This movie doesn't make me feel the great amount of love I've had for the original trilogy. But, it also doesn't give me the same feeling of overall dread for the prequels (besides episode 3, which I really like). I don't like this movie, and I don't hate this movie. As a Star Wars movie, I think it's fine to watch. That's the thing I can say most confidently. Ultimately, I'd recommend you see this movie. It seems to be the most polarizing Star Wars film to date. I understand people who either love it or hate it. For me, I have to just accept that I'll always be right down the middle.
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